In fact, he believes Firmino will use the same strategy as Lyle
Beerbohm, whom Volkmann outpointed in June.

“I watched about 20 minutes of his fights,” Volkmann told the
Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show. “It’s pretty much the
same. He’s going to come in just like Lyle Beerbohm. He’s going to
try to take me down to the ground and do the ground game with me,
ground-and-pound, but he sits inside the guard. He doesn’t do
anything on the ground.”

Volkmann had little trouble with Beerbohm, but it was his
disclosure that he’d passed out the day before the fight that stole
the headlines. The 33-year-old said he was taking a nap in his
hotel room after cutting weight and got up too quickly to answer
the door. The next thing he knew, he was in the floor, having what
he described as a seizure.

Of course, Volkmann went on to win his bout, but he caught some
criticism for fighting without disclosing the incident to the
Nevada Athletic Commission. He doesn’t think passing out was nearly
as big a deal as others seem to think.

“It’s a little ridiculous,” Volkmann said. “… They just don’t
understand. They’ve never cut weight and they assume that it’s a
bad thing. Really it’s not that bad. I just got up too fast and I
got lightheaded and I couldn’t catch myself. … That’s very common
for anybody losing weight. [If] you get up too fast from laying
down, you stand up, you’re going to get lightheaded. The more
weight you lose, obviously the worse the effect is.”

Four months later, Volkmann will be back in the cage against
Firmino.

“He’s not a dangerous guy, except for he throws these hooks, these
overhand hooks that can get kind of dangerous,” Volkmann said.
“They get you in the side of the head and the back of the head, but
his standup’s not the greatest. His ground game is average.”

While Volkmann doesn’t sound too impressed with his opponent, he
does see the bout as an opportunity.

“Obviously I’m going to try to stay standing with this guy,” he
said. “I want to work my standup because that’s his weakness. I
have a longer reach than him. I’m taller than him, so I’m going to
try and work the standup and the kicks. That’s the goal for this.
If he wants to go to the ground, fine, I’ll take him down. I’ll let
him try and grab my legs, let him burn some energy out there.”